ACC 366P/384 - Accounting Practicum Federal Taxation of .../media/Files/MSB... · Acc 366P/384...

ACC 366P/384 - Accounting Practicum Federal Taxation of Low Income Filers: Socio-Economic Forces

Unique #02375/02575 Tuesday 3:30 - 5:30, UTC 1.144

Spring 2015 Syllabus

Instructor: Doug deVidal E-mail: [email protected] Office: GSB 5.126B Office Phone: 512.471.7893

Office Hours: Tuesday and Wednesday from 2 - 3 and by appointment.

E-mail questions are also encouraged. If you cannot attend the above office hours,

please feel free to set-up (via e-mail) an office appointment at another time.

Volunteer service period: January 27 - April 15, 2015

Volunteer sites and operating hours are self-selected and may vary. Sites

(www.communitytaxcenters.org) are on major bus routes and students may wish to coordinate

carpooling.

Practicum Description

This course integrates community service and academic learning as follows:

● Community service involves at least 55 volunteer hours working with Community Tax Centers, a

Foundation Communities’ (http://www.foundcom.org) program that partners with the IRS to

implement the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program for low income filers. Last year,

Community Tax Centers helped over 20,000 people and brought over $35,000,000 into the Austin

economy in the form of tax refunds and credits. This year we hope to increase those totals! This

effort will require over 600 volunteers from UT and the greater Austin area.

PLEASE RECALL, IN THE COMMUNITY YOU’RE THE FACE OF THE

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN - DO US ALL PROUD!

● Academic learning comprises a multi-disciplinary curriculum addressing socio-economic issues

facing members of the low-income community. Topics will be presented by experts in fields such

as low-income housing, immigration, public policy, economic development, behind the scenes at

the IRS, and volunteering in the community. In addition, training and certification to perform this

community service activity will be provided.

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.foundcom.org/

Acc 366P/384 Syllabus

Spring 2015 - - Tuesday’s Class

McCombs students at all levels are eligible - BBA students, MPA students, and MBA students. No

accounting or tax background is necessary.

Community Service Requirements

For community service credit toward course credit, participants must complete the following community

service activities.

Register with Community Tax Centers as a volunteer.

Complete 8-hours of basic IRS training and 4 hours of advanced IRS training offered through

Community Tax Centers that covers tax law principles and how to use TaxWise software.

Become certified as a tax preparer by passing both the basic and advanced IRS certification tests.

Each exam certificate is due at the beginning of your class in the week after you finish each of the

training levels. This component is 11% of your course grade.

Self-select volunteer hours on Community Tax Center’s web-based scheduler.

Perform at least 55 hours of volunteer work as a tax preparer.

Classroom Procedures

Classroom protocol. The general in-class model is as follows:

The first 45 minutes of class-time we will have team meetings (Locations will be announced at a

later date.)

The remainder of our class-time will be with guest speakers

However, this model is contingent on the guest speakers’ preferences, so it may vary.

Teams and team leaders. The instructor will divide ACC 366P students into teams. Each team will be led

by two or three graduate students. Team leaders will play a primary role in your in-class involvement and in

your evaluation. Likewise, you will evaluate your team leaders. Team leaders are like a job manager and

carry substantial responsibility. In addition to orchestrating your team meetings and activities and

evaluating you, they are your first source for inquiries and for feedback concerning in-class activities.

Guest speakers. The in-class segment of the practicum is almost exclusively a guest speaker series.

Ample accounting content arises in the volunteer component. Hence the academic segment strives to

put your experience in a broader context by discussing issues associated with the low-income

community in the U.S. Distinguished guest speakers place an extra responsibility on us and also

introduce some special considerations, including the following.

Courtesy and attentiveness toward our guests is essential. We are representing the University of

Texas by our professionalism, involvement, politeness, punctuality, and all other aspects of our

comportment!

Speaker characteristics may vary, including differing styles, abilities to engage, length of talks, depth

of content, and the like. This is just one aspect of the pervasive diversity you will experience in this

practicum and one over which there is limited control. In the end, it is everyone’s responsibility to

make this practicum a meaningful experience.

There is a no laptop policy during guest speakers.

Communications and e-mail on Canvas: The use of e-mail and Canvas is required for this course.

When sending class-wide e-mails, I will use the e-mail addresses that are supplied to me on Canvas. If



this is not your preferred email address, be sure you set it up for forwarding. Any outside-of-class

announcements that I make (e.g., syllabus changes, assignment changes, etc.) will be sent to you via e-

mail. It is possible that substantial content will be posted on Canvas or sent via e-mail. It is your

responsibility to regularly check your e-mail and the class Canvas site.

Undergraduate Evaluation

A “B-F” course grade will be earned depending on the quality of performance in the items below.

Percentage of

total grade

Community Tax Center site manager evaluations 12%

Completing all IRS certification tests on time

Daily Grades

11%

12%

Speaker write-ups 11%

Completing Volunteer Hours 12%

Significant Impressions paper and discussion 11%

Instructor’s discretionary evaluation 16%

Total 85%

A grade of “B+”, “A-”, or “A” may be earned in the course with the completion of a high quality,

rigorous thesis paper for students with a letter grade of B in the course activities indicated above. See

the section of this syllabus titled “Thesis Paper” for more information about the thesis paper.

Evaluation input will be provided to the extent possible. However, definitive assessment of your grade

will not be available when the optional thesis paper is due. Hence, students assume some grade risk

in deciding to write the thesis paper.

Community Tax Center (CTC) site manager evaluations (12%). Site managers will provide input to

the instructor regarding

Quality of work, attitude, professionalism, and punctuality

Effectiveness of CTC client interface and comportment, including the dress code below

Quality of interaction with site colleagues, and bringing and using the proper materials

Proper dress - When you are at the Community Tax Center sites, you are not only representing the

University of Texas and Foundation Communities, you will also be providing a customer service.

Please dress appropriately when you show up to volunteer.

Acceptable dress consists of business casual, jeans, and UT t-shirts.

Unacceptable dress: shorts, workout clothes, hats, leggings as pants, youga pants,

pajamas, and flip-flops. (This is necessarily not a complete list.)

Daily Grades (12%). Your team leaders will evaluate your team participation during group meetings

based on the following scale: (Do not use half points)

- 3 = excellent

- 2 = satisfactory

- 1 = unsatisfactory

- 0 = absent, partially absent, or unprofessional

In order to earn all 12 percent of this grade component, your daily grade average must be 2.0 or higher.

Your evaluation will be based on the following criteria, which by their nature, contain elements of

subjectivity.



The quality and quantity of your contributions in your group meetings

The quality and quantity of your contributions in any group emails or other communication

mechanism your leaders decide to use

Your willingness and effectiveness to articulate questions during the speakers’ sessions

Your attendance in and punctuality to class, whether it begins with your group meeting or the

speaker’s presentation

Your comportment with guests and participants

Other subjective criteria the group leaders see fit

GRADUATE STUDENTS. At the end of each class, you are asked to evaluate each team member’s

overall contribution to your team. Please assess students on a numeric scale of 0-3 as stated above. I

anticipate the vast majority to be scores of 2, with only obvious outliers being 0, 1, or 3. (Do not

assign half points.) Under only extreme circumstances should more than one member of your group

get a “3” in a given week. The only time I realistically expect to see more than one “3” in a week is if

there were multiple members of your team who asked the guest speaker a “good” question. Every “3”

that is given must be accompanied by an explanation of why that student earned a “3”. While you

have some latitude in determining and implementing evaluation criteria, it is necessary that there be

significant commonality in evaluation criteria so there is a perceived and actual level playing field

across teams for determining grades. In your first meeting, I recommend that you reiterate to your

team members:

-The contribution evaluation criteria (above), and

-How and to whom to communicate the necessary inputs (e.g., speaker write-ups)

All team leaders of the group must get together and assign one grade for the day for each

undergraduate team member. I only want one overall grade turned into me. Each undergraduate’s

daily grade is due to me via e-mail by 11:59 PM on Tuesday. The subject line for the email should be:

Tuesday’s Class - Grades - Team#. I highly recommend meeting right after class and determining

these grades. You also need to keep these grades in your own semester gradebook.

By 11:59 PM on Tuesday, team leaders should provide confidential feedback (via e-mail) to each team

member so he or she knows his or her performance and can adjust as desired.

We will sit in our groups during the guest speaker presentations. If an undergraduate student asks the

guest speaker a “good” question, please consider giving them a Daily Grade of “3”. If an

undergraduate student is sleeping, laying their head down, texting, talking, not paying attention, or

acting unprofessional in anyway during the guest speaker presentation please give them a Daily Grade

of “0”. If you fail to catch and punish unprofessional behavior, it will affect your grade.



Speaker write-ups (11%). On the Monday before each class, you are to submit at least a 250 word

write-up of the current week’s speaker’s topic. Your write-up will be rated by your team leaders. The

same 0-3 scale will be used: (Do not use half points)

- 3 = excellent

- 2 = satisfactory


- 0 = not turned in or turned in late

To earn a grade of “3”, your speaker write-up must be of high quality and at least 500 words.

In order to earn all 11 percent for this component of your grade, your speaker write-up average must be

2.0 or higher.

Factors that might play into the rating of each speaker write-up might include, but are not limited to,

the following:

Topicality

Interest

Clarity of expression

Relevance to the topic

The quality and quantity of relevant underlying research (include reference sources)

All speaker write-ups MUST be e-mailed to your group leaders in a Word document. (Group leaders -

Word counts the number of words in the document for you, thus there is no need to manually count

yourself.) Speaker write-ups in any other form (e.g., hand-written, etc.) will not be accepted.

Your speaker write-up is due to your team leaders by 11:59 PM on Monday before the Tuesday class.

Please note that copying material from a website for your speaker write-up constitutes cheating under

The Code of Conduct for the McCombs School of Business.

GRADUATE STUDENTS. Please assess the students’ speaker write-ups on a numeric scale of 0-3 as

stated above. I anticipate the vast majority to be scores of 2, with only obvious outliers being 1’s and

3’s. (Do not assign half points.) Speaker write-up grades are due to me by 11:59 PM on Tuesday

after every class. The subject line for the email should be the same as given earlier: Tuesday’s Class -

Grades - Team#. You also need to keep these grades in your own semester gradebook.

While you have some latitude in determining and implementing speaker write-up criteria, it is

necessary that there be significant commonality in evaluation criteria so there is a perceived and

actual level playing field across teams for determining grades. In order to facilitate commonality in

evaluation criteria, I might randomly ask you to forward me all of your group’s speaker write-ups for

the week. (So do NOT delete them!)

I reserve the right to adjust a student’s speaker write-up grade as I see fit.

By 11:59 PM on Tuesday after every class, team leaders should confidentially e-mail all students their

speaker write-up grade so group members know their performance and can adjust as desired.



Significant Impressions paper and discussion (11%). You are to complete a two-page Significant

Impressions paper of the three most impressionable aspects of your volunteer experience that is due at

the beginning of class on Tuesday, April 21. Group leaders will facilitate a team discussion during

our last class session. Following this team meeting, a designated member(s) from your team will make

a brief presentation to the entire class summarizing the top two-to-four experiences among your team

members.

At the conclusion of this class session you will hand-in your Significant Impressions paper to the team

leaders for evaluation. The instructor will also evaluate this paper. This is your take-away from the

volunteer experience so there are no right or wrong answers. At the same time, meaningful thought

and effort should be put into your ideas. The evaluation you receive on this paper will be based on

factors such as, but not limited to, the following:

Thoroughness of your ideas. They may tie to cited research or our guest speaker’s comments, but

this is not necessary.

Quality of grammatical expression and organization (for example, a heading for each of your ideas

and subheadings, if logical, are recommended).

Your attendance in class that day and your participation in the group and class presentations

The Significant Impressions paper should:

Be no longer than two pages (8.5” x 11”), double-spaced,

Have one inch margins, and

Use Times New Roman 12 font.

Your Significant Impressions paper will be rated by your team leaders. The same 0-3 scale will be

used: (Do not use half points)

- 3 = excellent

- 2 = satisfactory


- 0 = not turned in or turned in late

In order to earn all 11 percent for this component of your grade, your significant impressions paper

grade must be 2 or higher. However, do not take this to mean there is no advantage to writing a paper

that earns a grade of 3. At the end of the semester if you are on the borderline of a grade cutoff (for

example: A and A-, A- and B+, etc.) a score of 3 on your Significant Impressions paper could very

well be the deciding factor in your final grade.



GRADUATE STUDENTS. The leadership role you are being asked to play in this activity is the

following:

1. Group leaders will facilitate a discussion within their team addressing the team’s experiences.

Following this team meeting, a designated undergraduate member(s) from your team will take a

few minutes to share with the entire class key experiences among your team members

2. At the conclusion of class, graduate students will submit their Significant Impressions paper to me.

3. At the conclusion of class, undergraduate students will submit their Significant Impressions paper

to the team leaders for evaluation by you on a numeric scale of 0-3 (use the grading standards as

stated above.) All team leaders will evaluate the papers independently. Please clearly mark all

team leader grades on the front page. All team leaders should also use different color pens to

write comments throughout the paper. I anticipate the vast majority to be scores of 2, with only

obvious outliers being 1s and 3s. Evaluations should be made based on the quality of insight and

impression.

4. Your evaluation of the students’ Significant Impressions papers will be turned in to me by Noon on

Tuesday, April 28 in CBA 4M.202 for my evaluation. You also need to keep these grades in your

own semester gradebook.

Thesis paper (15%). To earn a course grade of “B+”, “A-“, or “A” you must write a rigorous thesis

paper pertaining to a speaker related topic, whether proposed formally or informally by the speaker,

your team leaders, the instructor, or you. This paper is not required for a grade of “B” or below, but it

is required for a grade above a “B.” The topic must be approved by your team leaders by Tuesday,

April 7. The thesis paper is due at Noon on Thursday, April 30 in 4M.202. Thesis papers must also

be downloaded to SafeAssign on Canvas by Noon on Thursday, April 30. The thesis paper should:

Be no longer than 10 pages (8.5” x 11”), double-spaced (not including exhibits and works cited)

Be no shorter than 8 pages (8.5” x 11”), double-spaced

Have one inch margins

Use Times New Roman 12 font

Your thesis statement must be clearly stated at the end of your first paragraph

Use MLA citation format

The standard to earn an A on the thesis paper, and thus an A in the course, will be very high. Papers

will be evaluated by your team leaders and by the instructor based on, but not limited to, the following:

Thoroughness and credibility of research, authority, and citations

Relationship to guest speaker topics

Quality of arguments and conclusions

Quality of organization

Quality of grammatical expression



GRADUATE STUDENTS. Your role with the thesis papers is to:

a. Approve topics (in consultation with me if you wish).

b. Serve as a sounding board, advisor, and potential recommender of topics to your team members.

c. Provide the following evaluation:

1. Rank each thesis paper. The best thesis paper should be ranked #1.

2. Assign a letter grade (A-F; +/- may be used if you desire) to each thesis paper.

d. All team leaders will read all team members’ papers and clearly indicate their grade on the first

page. Please use different color pens when making comments.

e. All graded papers must be submitted to me by Noon on Thursday May 7 in CBA 4M.202.

I will read the bottom 2 ranked papers and the #1 ranked paper from each group.

Instructor’s discretionary evaluation (16%). The instructor will rely upon all assessment inputs from

team leaders and independent evaluations as indicated above and below. In the event the instructor has

additional information, or assesses a student’s performance differently than others, he maintains the

right to exercise discretionary decision making when assigning final grades. Absent additional or

contradictory insights, the instructor will allocate these discretionary points in a manner consistent with

the overall evaluation for all activities.

There is no extra-credit work, make-up or other mechanisms for evaluating

course performance beyond the activities described in this syllabus.

GRADUATE STUDENTS - Your semester grade will be determined by:

9% - CTC site manager evaluations

9% - Completing all IRS certifications on time

9% - Team leader evaluation

This will include both your undergraduate student evaluations and your co-leader(s) evaluation.

9% - Speaker write-ups

This will include, but is not limited to:

- Grading speaker write-ups appropriately under the guidelines stated above.

- Notifying your team members of their grade by the deadline stated above.

- Accurately and timely completing the task of sending me the speaker write-up grades by the deadline

stated above.

9% - Undergraduate’s Daily Grades


- Grading undergraduates appropriately under the guidelines stated above.

- Notifying your team members of their grade by the deadline stated above.

- Accurately and timely sending me the daily grades by the deadline stated above.

9% - Your Lesson Plans

At the end of every class you and your co-leader(s) will turn in to me your lesson plan for that day.

Lesson plans should be no longer than one page, double-spaced, have one inch margins, and use

Times New Roman 12 font. Handwritten lesson plans will not be accepted.



9% - Completing Volunteer Hours (the instructor reserves the right to increase this percentage if a

student completes significantly less than 55 hours of volunteer service.)

9% - Significant Impressions paper


- The quality of your Significant Impressions paper.

- The quality of facilitating the Significant Impressions discussion.

- The quality of your evaluation of undergraduate Significant Impressions papers.

9% - Thesis Paper


- Your completion of a rigorous thesis paper as described above OR completing an extra 8 hours of

volunteer time.

- The quality of your role, if requested, in students’ feedback on their thesis paper.

- The quality of your evaluation of undergraduate thesis papers.

19% - Instructor’s discretionary evaluation


- Your effectiveness as a group leader in managing your team and building enthusiasm and group

discussion.

- Your ability to stay on the prescribed timeline for activities.

So here is a cheat sheet to the weekly assignments:

Monday, 11:59 PM Undergraduate Students

1. Submit speaker write-ups for tomorrow’s class to group leaders

Tuesday, end of class Graduate Students

1. Hand in lesson plan to me

Tuesday, 11:59 PM Graduate Students

1. E-mail your group members their speaker write-up grade.

2. E-mail your group members their daily grade.

3. E-mail undergraduate’s speaker write-up grades to me.

4. E-mail undergraduate’s daily grades to me.



Important Notifications

Students with Disabilities Students with disabilities may request appropriate academic accommodations from the Division of

Diversity and Community Engagement, Services for Students with Disabilities, 512-471-6259,

http://www.utexas.edu/diversity/ddce/ssd/.

Religious Holy Days By UT Austin policy, you must notify me of your pending absence at least fourteen days prior to the date of observance of a religious holy day. If you must miss a class, an examination, a work assignment, or a project in order to observe a religious holy day, you will be given an opportunity to complete the missed work within a reasonable time after the absence.

Campus Safety

Please note the following recommendations regarding emergency evacuation from the Office of

Campus Safety and Security, 512-471-5767, http://www.utexas.edu/safety:

Occupants of buildings on The University of Texas at Austin campus are required to

evacuate buildings when a fire alarm is activated. Alarm activation or announcement

requires exiting and assembling outside.

Familiarize yourself with all exit doors of each classroom and building you may occupy.

Remember that the nearest exit door may not be the one you used when entering the

building.

Students requiring assistance in evacuation should inform the instructor in writing during the

first week of class.

In the event of an evacuation, follow the instruction of faculty or class instructors.

Do not re-enter a building unless given instructions by the following: Austin Fire Department,

The University of Texas at Austin Police Department, or Fire Prevention Services office.

Behavior Concerns Advice Line (BCAL): 512-232-5050

F

Further information regarding emergency evacuation routes and emergency procedures can be

found at: http://www.utexas.edu/emergency.

Policy on Scholastic Dishonesty The McCombs School of Business has no tolerance for acts of scholastic dishonesty. The

responsibilities of both students and faculty with regard to scholastic dishonesty are described in

detail in the BBA Program’s Statement on Scholastic Dishonesty at

http://www.mccombs.utexas.edu/BBA/Code-of-Ethics.aspx. By teaching this course, I have agreed

to observe all faculty responsibilities described in that document. By enrolling in this class, you have

agreed to observe all student responsibilities described in that document. If the application of the

Statement on Scholastic Dishonesty to this class or its assignments is unclear in any way, it is your

responsibility to ask me for clarification. Students who violate University rules on scholastic

dishonesty are subject to disciplinary penalties, including the possibility of failure in the course and/or

dismissal from the University. Since dishonesty harms the individual, all students, the integrity of the

University, and the value of our academic brand, policies on scholastic dishonesty will be strictly

enforced.

http://www.utexas.edu/diversity/ddce/ssd/

http://www.utexas.edu/safety

http://www.utexas.edu/emergency

http://www.mccombs.utexas.edu/BBA/Code-of-Ethics.aspx



Scholastic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to: copying tests or assignments, representing

(copying) the work of another person as one's own or allowing another person to represent

your work as their own, collaborating without authority with another student during an exam or in

preparing academic work, using or having on your desk unauthorized materials or aids to complete

a quiz or exam (e.g., unauthorized cheat sheets, solutions, and electronic storage devices such as

graphing or programmable calculators, cell phones, music players, etc), continuing work on an

exam after a stop time has been announced, etc.

You should refer to the Student Judicial Services website at http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sjs/ to

access the official University policies and procedures on scholastic dishonesty as well as further

elaboration on what constitutes scholastic dishonesty.

http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sjs/



Volunteering with Community Tax Centers

If you have not already done so, please register as a volunteer with Community Tax Centers (CTC).

It’s a simple process, but important.

(i) You can’t schedule your volunteer hours unless you register with CTC.

(ii) You are in the CTC information flow for relevant volunteer updates if you register with CTC.

Please do the following actions so you will be registered for the required volunteer component of the

class:

Register as a Community Tax Centers volunteer by clicking on the following link:

https://web.volunteer2.com/Public/Signup/SignupDecide.aspx?OrganizationGUID=7ec98974-

f6e1-41ac-87bb-a96ea60eb893

o In your application please indicate that you are with the UT practicum

Every student in the class must complete Basic and Advanced Training. There will be 3 basic

training sessions offered for UT students only. Advanced training will be during our regularly

scheduled class period. When you register as a volunteer you will not see these dates as

options. Please e-mail Jackie Blair ([email protected]) directly with the training

dates you want to attend. You must pre-register for training; you cannot show up for training

without first pre-registering with Jackie Blair. You must register as a volunteer with the

Community Tax Centers at the above attached link before e-mailing Jackie Blair with

your preferred training date. Jackie cannot sign you up for training until you have registered

as a volunteer.

The three Basic Training session options are:

-Friday, January 23, from 9:00 - 5:30 PM (there will be a half hour break for lunch) in the

MOD lab on the 5th

floor of the Business School.

-Saturday, January 24, from 9:00 - 5:30 PM (there will be a half hour break for lunch) in the

MOD lab on the 5th


-Friday, January 30, from 9:00 - 5:30 PM (there will be a half hour break for lunch) in the

MOD lab on the 5th


- You must know your McCombs computer lab login name and password!

Scheduling Your Volunteer Hours

As soon as you attend Basic Training and pass the Basic Test, you can start volunteering!

Before you begin:

Plan your schedule by reviewing the Tax Center locations and hours and writing down your

preferred shifts. Please also determine alternative choices, as the specific timeframes of shifts

may not fit your availability, and shifts close after the requisite number of volunteers sign up.

Visit www.communitytaxcenters.org to review the Tax Center locations and hours.

Consider your availability closely and select your shifts carefully. The fewer schedule

corrections we have to make, the better!

You will use MyVolunteerPage - the website on which you filled out your volunteer application – to

create your schedule.

TCC and SRH are in area 7 of

campus

https://web.volunteer2.com/Public/Signup/SignupDecide.aspx?OrganizationGUID=7ec98974-f6e1-41ac-87bb-a96ea60eb893

https://web.volunteer2.com/Public/Signup/SignupDecide.aspx?OrganizationGUID=7ec98974-f6e1-41ac-87bb-a96ea60eb893



Please print this message or keep it open in another window to refer to as you use the online

scheduling tool.

Step-by-step instructions on how to sign up for your desired shift:

1. Log in to your account at www.myvolunteerpage.com

2. Enter your username and password. If you do not remember your username and password,

email Jackie at [email protected].

3. Select “Sign Up” tab.

4. Select the location and position in which you would like to work. The locations are listed with

shifts through February 28.

a. There are 3 positions listed:

i. Client Liaison - As the first person a taxpayer encounters, the Client Liaison

welcomes clients to the Tax Center, screens for eligibility and preparedness,

collects documents, and assembles the information necessary for the Tax

Preparer to complete the tax return in an efficient manner. The Client Liaison

plays a critical role in ensuring that clients have a quality experience.

ii. Tax Preparer - Tax Preparer volunteers prepare tax returns for clients. All Tax

Preparers must pass the IRS Certification Test and submit the Volunteer

Agreement to Jackie Blair before they can prepare taxes.

iii. Translator - Spanish to English translation

*** Only “Tax Preparer” shifts will count towards your practicum hours.***

Be VERY careful when you are signing up to make sure you have selected Tax Preparer.

5. Check off the days and times you would like to work.

a. These shifts are all on a first-come-first-served basis.

b. If you have special circumstances that require different times than listed, please contact

Jackie Blair. Jackie will attempt to make special arrangements for your schedule, when

possible.

6. Hit “Save” at the bottom of the screen.

7. You will now be given the opportunity to confirm your shifts on the right.

8. You can now visit the “assignments” tab to view your full schedule.

When signing up for shifts, you are signed up whether you hit “confirm” or not. You are signed

up and holding a spot and we will be expecting you! Don’t click anything unless you want to sign

up for sure.

http://www.myvolunteerpage.com/



Important Notes

The minimum service requirement for this class is 55 hours which must be broken out as follows:

- January 27 - February 28: you must complete a minimum of 30 hours. At least 15 of these hours

must be completed by February 15.

- March 1 - March 31: you must complete a minimum of 15 hours. At least 5 of your March hours

must be completed between March 1 – March 16.

- April 1 - April 15: you must complete a minimum of 10 hours.

- There are no rollover hours.

- You may NOT work more than 6 hours in a day. Anything over 6 hours will not be counted for the

course.

If your site manager tells you that you can leave your shift early (ex. there is nobody in line for help),

you will get credit for the entire amount of the shift you signed up for.

If you stay late (past your scheduled shift) you will of course get credit for that extra time.

You are not required to keep a regular schedule - but if you have regular availability, you may find it

helpful to pick a regular, recurring shift (e.g., every Tuesday from 3pm to 6pm at Foundation

Communities).

You may sign up for different shifts at different locations. You are not required to do all of your

volunteer time at a specific location. Please select only shifts that you can commit to!

Each volunteer Tax Preparer will need to have completed the necessary training and certification prior

to their volunteer service. You will need to bring your completed and signed Volunteer Agreement

with you to EACH location you volunteer.

Please keep a record of what you signed up for by marking your calendar! By signing up for a

shift, your site managers, Jackie, and other volunteers will be relying on you to fulfill your

commitment. Also, make sure you track your actual hours worked on a calendar, on your phone,

etc.

Bonus Hours

Bonus hours will require that you make up your scheduled shift time and you will also have an

additional shift, for the same amount of time, added to your total hours.

For example - Bob Smith cancels a 6-hour shift 36 hours before the shift starts. Bob must obviously

make up that 6-hour shift. However, he must now also volunteer for another 6-hour shift. In this

example, Bob’s total volunteer time for the course has increased from 55 to 61 hours. (Note - these

“bonus” hours can be made up in any month.)

There are several ways to get “Bonus hours through the tax season:

- Canceling a shift within 48 hours

- Not showing up for a shift

- Signing up as a client liaison or translator instead of tax preparer



Professionalism is very important and there are some things that could affect your grade should we see

repeat instances.

Notes on professionalism in the Community Tax Centers:

- Cell phones

- Dress code

- Signing in and signing out for the actual time you are arriving and leaving

- Over scheduling shifts

Jackie’s contact information is:

Jackie Blair, Director of Volunteer Programs

Foundation Communities

[email protected]

phone: 512-610-7377

www.foundcom.org

http://www.foundcom.org/

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